Immortalized
by Stargem
Summary: Duo has 'died' some time ago, but by a bizzarre twist of fate, Heero has managed to upload his consciousness onto a mind chip implanted in his brain. Because the human brain does not have the capacity to house two independent minds, both Heero and Duo are
1. Immortalized - Part 1

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[ **Disclaimer: **All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit. ]

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A GW fan fic: Immortalized - Part One

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By Stargem

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Author's notes: Venturing into uncharted territory here ^_^; This is the result of playing the 'What-if' game concerning the G-boys, a cyberpunkish piccy by Kitsune(*waves* Hey Kitsune-chan! ^_^) and chibi-Star aka the Muse. I'm horrible at technicalities, so forgive any mistakes I make. I'm writing blind here, ya know…

****

Key for punctuation:

~ … ~ denotes Mindspeech/telepathy or voices in the head ^_^

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The nighttime streets were dark, shadowy and filled with fear. The harsh, glaring neon lights revealed nothing but the shadows of criminals lurking out of sight. Smoke wreathed upwards through the air, providing a thin veil of concealment for dark figures scurrying down the alleys, the collars of their coats pulled up and their hats low over their eyes. A lone hovercar darted quickly through the forbidding streets, the yellow glow of its front lamps cutting through the gloom to illuminate a slender, black-clad figure leaning casually against the wall of a dilapidated building in passing. A crimson cybernetic eye flashed warningly at the driver before it slid back out of the light. 

~ I'm bored. Bored, bored, bored. B-O-R-E-D. ~

"Shut up, Duo."

~ There's nothing to _do_ here! Why can't you bring me somewhere interesting for once? ~

"We're not here for fun. Our objective is Peterson."

~ *disgruntled* We've been here five hours already and he still isn't showing. Unlike you, I can't stand outside some scientist's house for hours on end twiddling my thumbs and doing nothing. ~

"Duo, you don't have a body."

~ *grimace* Right. I'm just a little voice in your head. ~

"Quiet. He's coming out."

Warm amber light spilled out onto the street, partially blocked by the dark figure in the doorway. Heero sank further into the shadows, narrowing his eyes dim cybernetic eye's glow. Ascertaining that the coast was clear, he darted forward and quickly pressed the sharp prongs of a taser to the scientist's neck. The man jerked in surprise, opening his mouth in a soundless cry for help before going limp as the injected drug filled his veins.

~ Nice job. Now, how about getting out of here? ~

Heero did not reply, hefting the slight body of his captive over one shoulder and pressing the switch beside the door to close it. The dark-coloured hovercar idling in the shadows immediately flew down to him at a non-verbal command with the minimum of noise. Heero dumped his captive into the backseat and jumped in the driver's seat. The hovercar purred off into the night, leaving no clue of its owner's recent visit.

***

~ You _did_ check the dosage in the taser, right? ~

"I did," Heero growled irritably, though he was starting to feel uncertain.

Dr. Peterson slumped bonelessly in a chair before them, secured in place by ropes. His glasses had slid down the bridge of his nose as his head lolled on his slowly rising and falling chest.

~ Maybe it's because he's so skinny. Half of the standard dose probably would've knocked him out already. 'Course he'd still have a killer headache anyway. ~

"Hn."

Suddenly, the bespectacled scientist stirred sluggishly with a groan. He turned chalk white as he caught sight of his kidnapper. The fierce frown and glaring red cybernetic eye did not help his confidence any.

"W-who are you?" the scientist squeaked. "What do you want with me? I don't have any money!"

"You are Dr. Peterson, correct?" Heero asked without preamble. His piercing glare made it clear that untruths would not be tolerated.

Dr. Peterson gulped. "Y-yes, I am."

"You are an independent researcher into cyber-technology, who left Cyber-Tech Labs five years ago. You were working on the idea that if memories could be stored on MRDs, perhaps so could a person's consciousness. Cyber-Tech Labs rejected your project because of its dubious success and costly research, so you decided to move to a small lab facility and continue on your work there. Your sponsor and business partner is Mrs. Chandler, a rich widow. Just recently, you have built a working prototype of your invention that is still within the experimental stages."

The young scientist was gaping in shock at the succinct summary of his activities for the past few years. "That's right! How do you know all this?"

"I need your invention."

"Huh?"

Heero glared. "Does it work?"

Dr. Peterson shrank back. "Y-you said yourself, it's still in the experimental stages! Theoretically, it should, but further testing is needed..-"

"I can't wait that long."

"But-"

"Does it work?"

Dr. Peterson wriggled uncomfortably in his bonds, trying to escape Heero's eyes. "Yes. But the procedure is very dangerous."

Heero nodded, satisfied. _It's going to work, Duo. You're going to be fine._

~ *Assent* ~

***

~ *nervous* You're _sure_ about this? ~

"Getting cold feet?" Heero asked dryly. "I'm the one strapped into the chair."

~ It's _me_ who's getting transferred onto a mind disk! The first time was bad enough. ~

"It was the only way."

~ You almost died. Two independent consciousness' can't both occupy one mind. The human brain doesn't have the capacity for that. ~

"That's why we're getting you into a body of your own."

~ It's ugly. ~

"Stop complaining."

Dr. Peterson's interest had been piqued as he witnessed Heero's side of the strange conversation. "Fascinating," he muttered. When it appeared that the conversation had stopped for the moment, he cleared his throat. "Are you ready?"

~ *resigned* Get it over with, doc. ~

"Do it," said Heero.

Dr. Peterson nodded, licking his lips nervously. He pressed the green start-up button. The computers hummed to life, bathing the reclining chair in which Heero was strapped into in an intense white glow. The scientist shielded his eyes from the glare with a hand, as the light intensified and a vibrating thrumming started up. With a final blinding flash, the light cut off abruptly along with the noise. The computers whirred softly and were quiet.

The scientist gazed intently at the two reclining chairs in the middle of the room. In the left, Heero was breathing evenly, unconscious. The cyborg unit strapped in the right was still and unmoving. Dr. Peterson bit his lip, anxiety creasing his brow. He did not want to explore the possibility of failure. The cyborg twitched. Its blank eyes suddenly came to life, glowing violet. As its systems came online one by one, it stiffly pushed itself upright, snapping the restraints. At the sharp sounds, Heero's eyes opened. The cyborg's cybernetic eyes meet his with a soft whirring movement.

There was silence for a full two minutes.

Then Dr. Peterson whooped, "It worked!"

"Hello, Heero." The inflectionless voice was unfamiliar, but there was no mistaking the living, breathing spirit residing in the pseudoflesh of the cyborg. Duo.

Heero just stared, wordless.

****

~ End Part One

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(© _March 2000 by Stargem_)

Send your comments and criticisms!

[stargem@silverink.cjb.net][1]

Visit me and the StoryTeller and at:

Home - Where the Heart Is

http://welcome.to/uchi

   [1]: mailto:stargem@silverink.cjb.net



	2. Immortalized - Part 2

=================================================================================

[ **Disclaimer: **All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit. ]

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A GW fan fic: Immortalized - Part Two

__

By Stargem

****

Author's notes: I don't know if this one should get warnings or not… *sweatdrops* Dedicated to Ad-chan as a late birthday present ^_^;

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He had been staring at the mirror ever since the good doctor had released him from the series of tests he'd had to undergo to ensure that everything was working fine and there was no danger of a sudden shutdown. The clear, polished glass reflected his glowing violet eyes like twin stars from a face that was totally devoid of all expression. The pseudoflesh covering up the special alloys that made up his skeletal frame was pinkish in colour - the colour of new human skin - but there was something… _off_ that marked it as clearly artificial. That wasn't what made him unhappy though. It was the hair. Or lack of it, to be more precise.

And that wasn't all. In this cyborg body, he had lost the senses of smell and touch, though his eyesight and hearing were at least a hundred times better. He pressed a finger to its reflection and the program registered the pressure, temperature and fed it back to him. Yet he felt nothing. The glass was simply glass; smooth, flat and evoking no sense of pleasure as he ran his finger down it like a slide.

Last night…

Last night, he had not been able to stop touching Heero, letting his hands roam freely all over the beloved face, cheeks, lips and body. More than anything, he missed the touch of his lover. They had done nothing else other than kiss and cuddle the entire night - the cyborg body Heero had acquired for him did not allow anything further. And he had not truly _felt_ any of those kisses. It scared him badly. Bodiless and drifting as a mere presence in Heero's brain, he had at least been surrounded by the essence of his lover. There had always been the comfort of Heero's thoughts, the vague sensations that he was able to weakly perceive by experiencing it through Heero.

His internal sensors registered the presence of a human. He watched the door's reflection open and greeted Heero without turning his head. "Found anything?"

Heero shut the door quietly. "Not yet."

Duo stroked the surface of the glass again, trying to ignore the heavy taste of disappointment on his tongue. He did not speak, hating the cold, unemotional voice of the cyborg body he inhabited. Heero observed him silently for a while before pulling him away from the mirror. Duo could have easily resisted - his cyborg strength far surpassed Heero's - but he didn't. He didn't think he could take his reflection for very much longer without shattering the glass anyway.

"Dr. Peterson?"

Heero nodded. "He can begin the process of implanting the synthetic hair today."

"A wig. Never thought I'd ever need one, huh Heero?" The intended flippancy was lost in the robotic voice.

"Baka," said Heero, not unaffectionately.

***

"_That's_ it?" Duo asked disbelievingly.

"It's made from material of the highest quality." Dr. Peterson's tone was injured. "It looks and feels exactly like normal human hair - only it's stronger and won't break."

They were looking at a pile of coiled up synthetic strands, all dull shades of brown and yellow. Duo hesitantly reached out and fingered one of the long brown strands, surprised to find that it was indeed as smooth and fine as human hair. Yet there was still that irritatingly minor difference in texture that defined it as unnatural.

Duo dropped the strand of synthetic hair. "Couldn't you have used bio-engineering?"

"It's still untested-" began Dr. Peterson.

"_This_ is untested!!"

"…and past experiments have all failed. It's really not much different from cloning, and you know that clones don't last. They're just copies - and they start to break down almost immediately. Bio-engineered organs and body parts _are_ more durable as they are technically natural cells grown artificially rather than copies. However, since they're artificially grown, the process is very delicate and the majority of the cells normally die before the end."

The doctor nervously cleaned his glasses on the edge of his white coat over and over as he watched the cyborg standing rigidly silent. "It's the best I can do, at least for now." he added apologetically.

Duo turned to him, his violet-tinted cybereyes glowing. "There's something else?"

Dr. Peterson nodded. "I have friends at Cyber-Tech that are working on a new project; fusing cybernetic parts with the human body."

"I don't _have_ a human body, doc. Or at least, I'm missing most of it." Duo had crossed his arms, and was doing a fairly good job of looking annoyed though he had less control over his facial expressions than he would have liked.

The glare had sent the poor doctor into an almost-cringe, scuttling behind the table to make some distance between them. "W-well, you umm, don't need your body to be err… _whole_. You see, limbs and some organs can be regenerated…"

Duo tried to sigh, but couldn't quite produce the appropriate sound. "Alright, alright already. I'll go with the fake hair for now." He grimaced. "But only under protest!"

***

He looked a lot more human now. Dr. Peterson had finally come up with a suitable dye to give his pseudoflesh the proper cream-pinkish tint of human skin. And the synthetic hair, of course. Duo stared at his reflection, the hairbrush in his hand ignored. It was easy to believe that the face looking back was not a cyborg's, not a mere imitation. Until one noted the shine of the pseudoflesh, light reflecting off the polished surface.

The hairbrush was plucked from his hand. "You haven't brushed your hair."

Duo lowered his face slightly, the fringe of his bangs hiding his eyes. The silence stretched out between them as Heero gazed at his lover. He had not admitted to it out loud, but he missed the free and easy chatter that spilled so effortlessly from Duo's lips. He missed the spontaneity of Duo's ever-changing expressions, his constant animation. This Duo was a stranger to him. After a while, he lifted the brush and began pulling it gently through the waves of chestnut. The shining fall parted as easily as it had done the countless times he had done before, and he found comfort in the hypnotizing rhythm of each fluid stroke of the hairbrush. When the hair lay smooth against Duo's back, Heero set down the hairbrush and set to braiding it. Separating it into three different sections - fold, tuck, wrap and repeat.

When he finally tied off the braid with a rubber band, Duo spoke softly. "Thank you."

Not knowing the right thing to say, Heero fell back on his all-purpose non-committal grunt. "Hn."

It provoked a very slight grin, mirrored back at him though their reflection in the glass. "Thank you, Heero." The words were warmer somehow - less _artificial_.

Heero gave his lover a rare, soft smile. "Come to bed."

***

"Duo?"

The cyborg was standing frozen in the middle of the room, looking as though he had been about to take a step towards the kitchen but failing to complete the action. Heero frowned worriedly and brushed aside the long bangs to gaze at his eyes, only to find the softly glowing violet light absent. He pushed down the first disturbing curls of anxiety, needing to be able to think clearly. He had only left Duo for a few minutes to get a quick breakfast. Duo had not wanted to follow, as his cyborg body did not need food nor could it accept it for that matter. And it was just another reminder of his non-human status. There was no ready explanation he could think of for Duo's statue-stillness.

He swore. "Shit."

Heero flicked on the built-in scanner in his cybernetic eye, the crimson lenses adjusting with a soft whirring. 

__

Cause of non-functional status: Power systems down.

Suggested Action: Recharge.

He shut off scanning mode and sighed. They had forgotten that Duo's power source needed constant recharging, as it was a fairly old model, though dependable. He would have to find a way to get some upgrades. For now, he needed to get Duo powered up again.

Flicking the braid over Duo's shoulder, he ran his hands along the smooth back until finding and depressing the hidden springs that bared the internal organs of the cyborg body to him. At the very heart of the snaking wires and shining metal components was a small transparent container that held a dull crystal. Heero frowned again. The crystal had been drained dry to the very last bit of power. Only a tiny sliver of glimmering blue remained; not enough to power the cyborg's body functions, but hopefully keeping the mind disk alive and running. Quickly and efficiently, he replaced the dying crystal with a new one from the small store of power crystals he had received from Dr. Peterson. He stepped back, held his breath and waited.

****

~ End Part Two

*******************************************************************************************

(© _March 2000 by Stargem_)

Send your comments and criticisms!

[stargem@silverink.cjb.net][1]

Visit me and the StoryTeller and at:

Home - Where the Heart Is

http://welcome.to/uchi

   [1]: mailto:stargem@silverink.cjb.net



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